Ever since his passing, the late Ronnie James Dio’s memory has been celebrated in a wide range of ways. One such effort has been the Rock for Ronnie benefit concert, with various metal musicians and bands getting together to play some killer music and raise some money for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.
Earlier this month, this year’s concert took place at the Lou Bredlow Pavilion at Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills, California. And with a concert lineup including Quiet Riot, Dio Disciples, Jason Charles Miller, Billy McNicol, X-COMM, and a jam by Eddie Trunk’s All-Star Band, this year’s event raised a whopping $80,000 for the cause.
In addition to the show, Eddie Trunk was on hand to host things. And whole that would usually be as much as one would expect, the SiriusXM host was honored with a special “King of Rock and Roll” award, presented by Dio’s widow Wendy Dio.
“I was both honored and surprised by Wendy Dio on stage at the Rock for Ronnie when she presented me with the ‘King of Rock ‘n Roll’ award for my work with the Dio Cancer Fund. Thank you to Wendy and thanks to all the fans and bands that joined us to raise funds and celebrate Ronnie James Dio.”
A whole slew of other really awesome stuff happened during the festivities, including a number of auctions for special edition guitars and various other instruments and goodies. A special guitar played by Lita Ford during the day raised $11,500 by itself.
Also on hand was UCLA School of Dentistry’s Dr. David Wong, who was on hand to receive a check for $25,000 to go toward the research and development of a non-invasive saliva-based swab test to help detect cancer as early as possible. His team’s progress in researching salivary biomarkers for gastric cancer has allowed them to prepare to submit their findings to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a “Gastric Cancer Biomarker Characterization Center” grant in the coming weeks.